Vietnam Signs UN-EU Update Deal on Costs Involved in ODA
Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh signed with representatives of the United Nations and European Union a new version of the UN-EU guidelines for financing local costs in development cooperation Jun 3 in Hanoi.
It is aimed at providing better management of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the country, deputy minister said.
The version was first introduced two years ago and included unified costs, norms, valuable inputs and recommendations from a “Baseline Study on Existing Cost Norm System for ODA Loans and Grants in Vietnam.”
The version of 2007 did not have the expected impact in Vietnam, said Rafael Ramirez, chief of UNICEF operations.
For example, he said, valuable information from international and Vietnamese specialists was missed at a conference last year in Vietnam because good translators were not available.
“We could not hire good translators as we offered a fee based on the 2007 version of the guidelines,” Ramirez noted.
The signing also kicked off an action plan for training and orientation workshops on how to apply the cost norms for Vietnamese government, UN, and EU staff. (VNS, Pioneer)
Vietnamese
